[Donnac]

#25272

Hello. I am losing my mind. My husband had 3 neck surgeries. After the first, he began having nocturnal seizures. This was 5 years ago. When his pain did not improve, he was told it simply had not fused yet. He suffered for a year, and was told another disc needed done with fusion. So, he had that surgery by the same surgeon. In the meantime he continued to have seizures. One year later he was still in the same pain and the surgeon told him he could do nothing else and needed pain management. He could not tolerate physical therapy. Pain management did not help. He and I wanted to look for answers and looked for a new neurosurgeon for advice. He could no longer work and spent most of his time lying down due to pain. The new doctor thought it might help to go in the back of the neck and reinforce the discs to give more stability. My husband felt he had no choice if he wanted quality of life and so off he went for a third surgery. That was 2 years ago. This time we saw another who says he has horners syndrome. Ct scan of head and,neck show no artery problems. We are at a loss. She said she will talk it over when he sees her next month!!! However her nurse reports that the doc is certain his issue is due to the first surgery. Have you ever heard of anything like this? I am beyond stressed for him.

[Donald Corenman, MD, DC]

#25276

Nocturnal seizures can be a description of many different symptoms from epileptic seizures to pain disorders that awaken the patient. You will have to be more specific.

When you say “he was told it simply had not fused yet”, you indicate that he had a cervical fusion (ACDF) but don’t indicate levels. That phrase does indicate a pseudoarthrosis (lack of fusion) which can cause neck pain itself. You then note a subsequent surgery but don’t indicate if the original level that failed was addressed or how many total levels were fused.

One of the main questions was what was his original source of pain and was there a work-up to help diagnose the pain generators? What was the thinking as to the reason for each surgery and what evidence (history, physical examination, imaging, diagnostic blocks) was used to come to the correct surgical conclusion? Also, what is his current status regarding the success of surgery, any residual compression of nerves or spinal cord, what is happening with his neck alignment and the discs above and below the surgery?

Dr. Corenman

PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.
 
Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.

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